Politics & Government

New Uptown Park Likely Won't Open Before Next Fall

The city and the council seem to be at a stalemate when it comes to how to pay for a traffic light, before the park opens.

The opening of 1600 Park——can be pushed back as far as October 2012, according to Director of Parking and Transportation. The opening of the park was previously delayed, because the mayor announced a

When, during a recent council meeting, which has to be installed by Hudson County, the bond ordinance failed after the minority members of the city council voted it down. The funds for the traffic light will now be adopted in the county's 2012 program, Sacs said, which could mean an installation of the signal around next fall.

While the city is saying it can't do anything before the light is installed, the minority council—made up of mayoral critics Beth Mason, Theresa Castellano, Tim Occhipinti and Michael Russo—says there are other options to open the park before next fall.

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Russo, a staunch opponent of the mayor, said that the money for the signal should come out of the Parking Utility's surplus. "(The administration) want(s) to bond for everything," he said in a recent phone interview. To pass a bond ordinance, six votes are needed.

When asked if he would approve any more bonds, Russo answered, "no not right now, I'm not approving any more bonds whatsoever." The mayor is looking for the council's help for multiple other bond ordinances, i

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Sacs, on the other hand, said that paying for the light with a bond is "the responsible way" to finance it. He also said that since the county is responsible for payment of the traffic signal, it would allocate the $350,000 to the Observer Boulevard Project—for which $2 million is already available. Without the bond, Sacs said, that is impossible.

The uptown park has a soccerfield which would be available for the city's sports leagues, which started playing this fall. Part of the construction of the park is the elevation of the field, which also has to be completed before 1600 Park can open.

"(Designers) are actively working to get those designs modified as quickly as possible," Sacs said.

Russo said a traffic cop could be hired to work uptown and direct traffic while the city awaits the traffic signal. Sacs said that's less cost effective than installing a traffic signal.

"Most importantly are the children and parents who cross the street to get to that park," Sacs said, "at some point you got to put politics aside."

But that point has not been reached yet, with both sides of Hoboken's political spectrum calling each other liars. On the other side of the political fence, Russo said that the construction of the field is the cause of the delay, not the traffic signal.

"There are other ways to skin that cat," Russo said, "there is no correlation between bonding for a traffic light and opening a park."

Sacs begged to differ. "They knew a 'yes' vote would have the park open earlier," he said.

Meanwhile, with no date set for construction to start on the renovations at Frank Sinatra park—the city is planning to go out to bid in November, according to a memo from Zimmer—Hoboken is without a soccer field for yet another Fall.


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